Tinder Employees Reveal Their 11 Highly Specific Dating Deal Breakers

Sometimes a blue checkmark works against you.

Kristin Collins Jackson

May 17, 2019 | 12:19 PM

Photo by Guille Faingold/Stocksy

We all have our own dealbreakers. There are the obvious ones that send most of us running for the hills: No sense of humor, awkward first dates, and dishonesty. And then there are the highly specific examples you only realize after you spend 40 hours a week working for a dating app. When it comes to dating deal breakers, us singles here at Tinder are on some next-level shit.

We see it all. Most of us are on the app constantly, and we’re well-versed in reading between the lines in order to make an informed Swipe Right™ decision. Along the way, we’ve picked up on some commonalities that will help everyone vet their potential matches. You’ve probably learned the hard way that an empty bio is a hard pass because the person is likely to put the same amount of effort into whatever relationship you have as they did their profile. But, have you thought about getting even more specific with your deal breakers? We have.

No one wants to waste time, and like you, we want to streamline the vetting process as soon as possible. The more specific your deal breaker is, the less time you’ll spend with someone who’s “great, but…”. Narrow down your search because single is busy AF.

These are the highly specific dealbreakers we turn to time and time again. Take notes.

3. “Anyone who cooks pizza rolls in the microwave is going to be a hard pass for me. That just shows me that they don’t understand that great things take time.” —Caroline, 24, creative

4. “Anyone who shows up in blue jeans and a purple shirt.” —Rita, 26, community

5. “[Anyone] who is into crystals and astrology, but isn’t like INTO crystals and astrology. Anyone who wants to combatively debate about politics or texts after the first date asking, ‘So like, just curious, what are we lol?’” —Vaughn, 30, social media

6. “Anyone wearing a high-school class ring on their pinky finger or meditation beads as fashion jewelry. But, I’m also not dating anyone who went to the ‘School of Hard Knocks’ — especially if they come with a Hotmail, MSN, or Earthlink email address.” —Shelby, 34, comms

7. “Anyone who tells me they want a stay-at-home wife on the first date and/or is wearing Crocs. And frankly, anyone who flies Spirit. Sorry, but I’m going to have to pass on the fuckboy of airlines.” —Sara, 23, marketing

8. “People who don’t stay up on current events or anyone with a sense of entitlement. Also checking your phone constantly is a personal dealbreaker of mine.” —Adam, 27, product

9. “Anyone who can’t be bothered to confirm the date at least a couple of days before and anyone who orders for me without asking me first if it’s OK. Yuck.” —Jessica, 26, business development

10. “Having NOTHING to talk about — I know that we date more thanks to Tinder (and we can get some fatigue), but that’s no reason to think you don’t have to put in some effort. Oh, and I’m not trying to get to know anyone trying to be an influencer.” —Kevin, 29, comms

11. “Unless you mean it literally if you ‘don’t see color,’ I won’t see you. And sorry, but if you show up with a Hitler Youth haircut, then the only thing I know about you is that you have something in common with Hitler. That’s a huge deal breaker for obvious reasons.” —Sylvia, 24, creative